between West 4th and Bleecker Sts, Greenwich Village 1,9 Subway to Sheridan Square; A, C, E, B, D, F to West 4th St.

This Weekend at Cornelia Street Cafe Dec 16 - Dec 18

Friday Dec 16 6:00PM PINK PONY POETRY Poez Jackie Sheeler, host This is what the press has said about Poez:

The Village Voice: Skillfully chants and wails his poem... breaks up words, displaces the emphasis, then settles down to a driving rhythmic chant on two notes...sound on a collision course."

The New York Times: A sonic fantasia .. rhymed verbal extravaganza on an apocalyptic theme."

NY Daily News: A voice musician... a flow of words like a river like a jazz instrument." ...and we're not even including any quotes from the international press here. in the late 70's and early 80's, Poez performed to sold-out houses all over the world: everywhere from London to Paris to Germany and of course, constantly, in NYC.

HE HAS NOT PERFORMED HERE SINCE! THIS IS A READING NOT TO BE MISSED! He will be performing with Ishle Park, current poet laureate of Queens. Talk about a dynamic duo! Cover $6 (includes one house drink) http://www.poetz.com

On Friday, Dec. 16th John McNeil brings a striking new band called East Coast Cool" to the Cornelia St. Cafe. They will be playing music from John's upcoming OmniTone CD of the same name (scheduled release, January 10th). The instrumentation of trumpet, baritone saxophone, bass and drums is a nod to the Gerry Mulligan pianoless quartets of the 1950's, but the music is contemporary and uses free form improvisation. It's a brand-new take on a classic concept. Cover $10 www.mcneiljazz.com , www.omnitone.com

Mark Helias and Ray Anderson have been making music together in various contexts since 1977. They have performed as a duo on a few rare occasions and will be doing so in New York on Sarurday December 17, 2005 at the Cornelia Street Caf. Come and hear the conversation of two musicians who inspire one another to take chances and get results.

Ray Anderson and Mark Helias

The duo played two sets, accompanying each other through the changes. it's odd to see a duo of bass and trombone. the job of supplying the rhythmic pulse is usually left up to the bassist, but Helias' style is more lyrical and melodic than the average bassist. although he did act as the anchor for a portion of the show, most of his lines served simply as one half of a two-way conversation. when the usual boundaries are abandoned -- as they were by the absence of a drummer -- more room is left for each player to fill the missing" role. the players also reacted by extending their techniques: anderson at one point dribbled water into the slide of his trombone to give it a gurgling sound as he played long, sustained low notes while helias did some fast arco bowing over the top.

The two men on stage definitely exhibited a level of communication that you can only reach after decades of playing and developing together. although they played compostions (penned in tandem or by each other), they often dropped their eyes from the music and worked off the script. that's where the most exciting moments happened, both players' eyes shut and hands flying in different directions, flurries of notes drawing a raised eye-brow or a silent nod from the other musician. it comes from that place of total freedom that you can only arrive at when the comfort level is raised to a certain threshold. i hope to have that freedom with my instrument some day. until then, i can only watch and learn.

At the end of the show, the duo played an encore that was delicate and hushed. it was a bit of a contrast to the hour-plus of music that had come before, yet it still served as a catharsis for the entire evening." 9:00PM Cover $10 www.markhelias.com www.rayanderson.net

The husband and wife team have been playing with their drummer pal Tom Rainey for years now; their bedrock rapport doesn't vanish for an instant when they're truly hitting it. That gives their well- conceived abstractions an inner balance that often eludes others. Sax, piano, percussion - quite a concept. Jim Macnie/Village Voice NYC

This is a particularly articulate small ensemble in a time where subtle ensemble articulation is a lost art to many musicians. The trio subtly balances between the overt and the introvert. Intuitive ensemble-play moments find their space, without ever. Cover $10 www.tonymalaby.com , www.angelicasanchez.com

Big Bang", the latest new and all-inclusive music and mixed media series at Cornelia Street Cafe, beginning Monday, October 17th, 2005 and every third Monday of the month thereafter.

Big Bang" is a creative collision of musicians with artists in spoken word, dance, visual art, video art, found words, theatre, etc. presenting works in progress in a new series every third Monday at the Cornelia Street Caf. The evenings will include two featured groups followed by a brief talk back with the audience after each set. Every evening will end with a jam session in which we fish names out of a hat (including names of audience members) that will go for about 10 minutes.

8:30 - Cornetist, Taylor Ho Bynum, and dancer, Rachel Bernsen working on a performance duo, trying to move away from the traditional confines of dance/music collaboration and [move] towards creating a shared interdisciplinary improvisational language. 9:20 - Saxophonist and Lyriconist, Jorrit Dijkstra working with sculptor and painter Marieken Cochius whose art works will be on display downstairs specifically for their performance/collaboration.

Steven Henry Madoff is a poet, art critic, and editor. His poems have appeared in Bomb, Threepenny Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, and Slate. His art criticism and writing appears regularly in Artforum and the New York Times. He has served as an art critic for Time magazine, and he is a Contributing Editor at ARTnews, where he was Executive Editor for seven years. He has published one book of poems, While We're re Here, with Hard Press and his book Christopher Wilmarth: Gravity and Light, from Princeton University Press, was named best scholarly art book of 2004 by the Association of American Publishers. In 2006, he will be a visiting critic at Yale University's School of Art.

CLAIRE JEFFREYS is the author of two novels: MR. LONELYHEARTS and BLUE RIVER. Her third novel, THE CULT OF JANE, investigates celebrity and the occult. She lives in New York with her husband Garland and daughter Savannah.

MEAKIN ARMSTRONG is a screenwriter and a freelance writer and editor. He is also a regular contributor to both Good Housekeeping and Maxim. Analyze that! Cover $6 (includes one house drink)

Few singers, regardless of age, bare their soul like Sheila Jordan, let alone do it accompanied only by a bass. That Jordan is now in her late seventies and performs the type of immaculate club sets documented on Celebration refutes most of the conventional wisdom about the biology of the human voice. Her projection, intonation, phrasing and coloration on these 76th birthday party performances with bassist Cameron Brown rarely even hint at her age. Recorded at NYC's Triad, these performances compare very well with Jordan's work with Arild Andersen on her first voice-bass album, Sheila (Steeplechase), recorded in 1977. If anything, Jordan is more joyful, radiant and reconciled, particularly when she reaches way back to tunes like Humdrum Blues" and Let's Face the Music and Dance," which she sang on her 1962 debut, Portrait of Sheila (Blue Note). Most folks Jordan's age are in the autumn of their lives; she's in Indian summer. (taken from www.pointofdeparture.org) David Devoe, curator Cover $10 http://www.sheilajordanjazz.com/ www.cameronbrownmusic.com

Wednesday Dec 28 8:30PM SOUL OF THE BLUES Jon Sobel Tommy Keys; TBA This special edition of Soul of the Blues features.....Tommy Keys and TBA.

SOUL OF THE BLUES, NYC's premiere *inexpensive* live blues and soul music series, happens the fourth Wednesday of every month at Cornelia Street Cafe. Cover $5 http://tommykeys.com

The trio's name Open Loose" refers not only to its musical style, but to Mark Helias' compositions which are written with plenty of space in them, and are designed to be interpreted openly and loosely. They allow for seamless transitions between composed passages and improvisation, never easy to achieve. This threesome fully exploits the creative possibilities of the compositions, never opting for a clichd theme-solos-theme format. The group has the knack of starting with a rather loose - sometimes even ramshackle - piece and slowly allowing it to evolve until it emerges as a tight theme. Open Loose has been touring for six years and has released three CDs." Cover $10 www.markhelias.com

NEW YEAR'S EVE!!

Paul Shapiro's irresistible RIBS AND BRISKET REVUE is back at the Cornelia Street Cafe following its fabulous sold out show last year. It's the best deal in town. It starts at 10:00 PM. If you just want to come and celebrate downstairs it's $50. per person and includes a free glass of premier champagne.

Dinner upstairs costs $75. per person. If you combine dinner upstairs and the show downstairs its a combo deal of $110. A bargain! PAUL SHAPIRO'S RIBS AND BRISKET REVUE! at the Cornelia Street Cafe

TIME OUT NEW YORK writes: Tenor saxophonist Paul Shapiro, who's played alongside artists as far-flung as Michael Jackson, Lou Reed and the Microscopic Septet, leads a band of friends in '40's swing with a distinctly Yiddish accent.

Babi, best known for his work with Keith Richards, sings Cab Calloway's Ot Azoy chanting like a cantor chewing mushrooms. Cilla channels 'Red Hot Mama' Sophie Tucker's Rose of the Volga, and rocks the house with Mildred Bailey's A Bee Gezindt. Then there's the food songs- Solid Potato Salad, Matzo Balls, Dunkin' Bagel, Patootie Pie... With all that schmaltz (chicken fat--a Jewish delicacy) on the musical menu we have to top it off with Louie Jordan's I Like them Fat Like That.

We'd love to see you in the house... if you can't come--force yourself! 29 Cornelia Street (212) 989-9319 www.corneliastreetcafe.com

This is a monthly opportunity for artists associated with the cafe-- from every genre and every generation, past, present, and future--to gather informally, schmooze, re-invent the world, and hoist a glass of quelque chose (the only kind of chose to hoist). Our glorious curators are present, you can buttonhole them to find out what's cooking, you can introduce yourself to other toilers in the vineyard, invent projects and discover collaborators. All are welcome.

Fri Jan 6, 9:00PM CHRIS LIGHTCAP GROUP (Tony Malaby, tenor saxophone; Mark Turner, tenor saxophone; Jacob Sacks, piano; Chris Lightcap, bass & compositions; Greald Cleaver, drums) Having released 2 critically acclaimed releases with his two-tenor quartet, bassist and composer Chris Lightcap brings another configuration of new music to Cornelia Street Cafe. Lightcap has been featured in the bands of Craig Taborn, Joe Morris, Mark Turner and Regina Carter, and tonight he will lead a band featuring his longtime collaborators Tony Malaby, Mark Turner ,Gerald Cleaver as well as Jacob Sacks on piano.

One of the bright lights of New York's younger players, the bassist has been fashioning a group sound around a pair of tenor saxophonists for years. His writing can be simultaneously demonstrative and reflective, an accomplishment that gives his music emotional breadth." -Jim Macnie, Village Voice

A bassist-bandleader who's made some excellent records with two tenor saxophones out front." - Ben Ratliff, New York Times

Bassist Chris Lightcap has worked alongside avant-minded mavericks such as Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, and Joe Morris, but he's also right at home in more mellifluous units led by Regina Carter and Craig Taborn. perhaps that explains the infectious swagger and fat grooves he brings to bear on Bigmouth (Fresh Sound New Talent), a playful bag of tunes featuring saxists Tony Malaby and Bill McHenry and drummer Gerald Cleaver" -Time Out New York 9:00PM Cover $10 www.chrislightcap.com

In the fifties I enjoyed latin music. Then in the sixties I heard Stanz Getz and Charlie Byrd with Desafinado. That led me on the path to jazz.
Always interested in photography, so in the early '70s I started combining the two

In the fifties I enjoyed latin music. Then in the sixties I heard Stanz Getz and Charlie Byrd with Desafinado. That led me on the path to jazz.
Always interested in photography, so in the early '70s I started combining the two. No financial rewards, but immense satisfaction and, thanks to
linking up with writer Stan Britt, managed to meet (and photograph) some of my heroes: Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson.
Best gigs? Sinatra with Basie at the RFH, London, and Dexter Gordon at Ronnie Scott's.
Advice to new photographers? Be polite, obtain permission, remain invisible, and always thank when possible the musicians and venue operators.

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